


What Makes a Team

by whumpsie_daisy



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, FebuWhump2021, Gen, Hiding an injury, Hurt Dick Grayson, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, febuwhumpday13
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29408304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whumpsie_daisy/pseuds/whumpsie_daisy
Summary: If he was being honest, the bullet hole in his shoulder should have been more of a priority. But that wasn’t really how Dick Grayson played, let’s be frank. Instead, he swallowed down a cry and staggered forward, letting the momentum of the bullet carry him onward. There wasn’t time to stop and assess the damage as another goon lunged at him, swinging for his head. Without thinking, Dick threw himself into the fray, dispatching his assailant and moving on to the next. He squashed down the pain as the bullet ground against bone - it would keep, there was work to do.When Dick is injured during a mission, he does his best to struggle through and be the leader his team needs.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 49
Collections: febuwhump 2021





	What Makes a Team

**Author's Note:**

> I think once I have time I'll write the other perspectives to this story. Certainly the missing period of time while Dick is unconscious. Keep an eye out for that some time.

If he was being honest, the bullet hole in his shoulder should have been more of a priority. But that wasn’t really how Dick Grayson played, let’s be frank. Instead, he swallowed down a cry and staggered forward, letting the momentum of the bullet carry him onward. There wasn’t time to stop and assess the damage as another goon lunged at him, swinging for his head. Without thinking, Dick threw himself into the fray, dispatching his assailant and moving on to the next. He squashed down the pain as the bullet ground against bone - it would keep, there was work to do. 

Really he surprised himself. He managed to stay in the fight a lot longer than he’d expected after that first hit. Though, that also meant the fight lasted a lot longer than he’d have liked. There seemed to be an unending wave of underpaid lackeys ready to go toe to toe with the city’s new heroes, so who was he to disappoint them? As he sent another body flying across the room, he took the opportunity to glance around his team. 

Gar was hard to miss: a huge green tiger batting people away like flies tends to catch your attention. So he was doing fine. Dick was glad to see that some of the unease had left his eyes since the last time he’d had to transform. Kory was also easy to spot, she quite literally lit up the room as she flung fire here and there. Over to his left, Hank pistol-whipped a guy with his own gun, while Dawn spun with the grace only a dancer can match before sending another crashing into the wall. Metal clashed over to his left - Rose, his mind supplied. She seemed to be fitting in just fine, fighting in almost perfect tandem with Jason. The pair flipped and spun around each other like some sort of lethal whirling dervish. Jason even managed to find the time to flash him one of his crooked, signature grins. 

So the team was doing great, all things considered. And of course that’s when things went from bad to worse for Dick. His moment of distraction as he’d checked on the others had allowed one of the larger men to get up in his space and wrap a meaty hand around the top of his arm. The one with the bullet still lodged inside. Dick strangled back a scream and lashed out with his escrima stick. He managed to glance the stick across the man’s face, but all that did was cause the thug to squeeze tight, shoving his thumb into the open wound. Dick’s vision whited out and this time he could do nothing to stop the ragged scream that ripped from his throat. 

When his vision cleared, he was on one knee, clutching at his shoulder and trying to claw off the hand that still held him there. With a desperate growl, he reared back and slammed his forehead into the man’s nose. 

That seemed to do the trick. 

Suddenly he was hurtling across the room as the goon flung him aside in favour of clutching his face. Dick barely had time to process this, however, as he crashed into the corner of a pillar. His breath abandoned him as something deep in his chest snapped audibly. Okay, so maybe the bullet wound wasn’t the priority anymore. 

Gasping for breath, Dick curled in on himself at the base of the pillar. He hated to admit it, but it’s possible he blacked out for a bit as the sounds of fighting wound down. Ever so carefully, he gathered his limbs under himself and struggled upright once more. A quick check around the room told him that no-one had witnessed his little flight, thank goodness. He could already imagine the grief he’d get from Jason if he’d seen it. 

He was relieved to find that by the time he was back on his feet, the fight was well and truly over. The goons they’d come to stop were piled up in the center of the room - a mess of unconscious bodies and dangling limbs. In contrast, the Titans were all standing, for once. Sure they looked a little rough, but they’d certainly had worse. Kory was in the process of holding up an exhausted Gar, politely looking the other way as he scrambled into a pair of sweats. 

“We all okay?” Dick asked, forcing his voice to sound a lot steadier than he felt. There was a round of grunts and other assorted noises that he took to be affirmations, before he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

“All good, Bro.” Jason was beaming as he swaggered around the room. “I mean look at us, we did awesome.” He waved at one of the security cameras. “Conner, tell me that looked awesome!” 

Conner’s voice crackled over the comms. “It looked… awesome, I guess.” Dick couldn’t help the small huff of laughter at his bemused tone. Though the action pulled uncomfortably at his aching ribs. 

“I’m sure it did,” he deadpanned, “but let’s not get full of ourselves, ok. Head back to base, we’ll debrief at the tower.” 

Another hand grabbed his shoulder, spinning him round and drenching him in a cold sweat. “Hang on, are you forgetting that these two went completely off plan?” he asked, gesturing to Jason and Rose. 

“No,” Dick bit back, “I hadn’t. I just don’t think we want to be here when the cops arrive.” Already the wailing of sirens could be heard in the distance. He paused to give everyone the chance to catch them too. “So let’s have this conversation back at the tower.” 

Quickly, the sirens became too oppressive to ignore and the Titans made quick work of vanishing into the night. Though it was arguably less impressive than dashing across the rooftops back to the tower, Dick was relieved to see the car parked where they’d left it as they burst out into the alley. The kids were still chattering away, regaling one another with their escapades and doing a terrible job of smothering their noise. It was all still so new to them. 

A hand slid in front of his as he reached for the driver’s side handle. 

He blinked up at Kory, who was looking back at him, unimpressed. She quirked an eyebrow at him and pressed herself closer, forcing him back from the door. “My turn,” she said flatly. 

“Kory, it’s fine. I can drive.”

This time, her head tilted as her mouth flattened. “Sure you can, but I’m driving.” Her tone brooked no arguments as her eyes flickered to the awkward way he was holding himself, trying to take the pressure off both his shoulder and his ribs. 

Call it a moment of weakness if you will, but Dick couldn’t be bothered fighting on this one. Without a word, he stepped back and let Kory swing herself up into the driver’s seat. The shuffling path he took around the front of the car gave him time to pull himself together before he hauled himself up into the passenger seat. Behind him, the teens were a cacophony of boasts, so Dick was more than happy to tune them out. He watched the road blankly as Kory navigated her way back to Titans Tower. 

Still, it was a shock when his door was opened and a severely unimpressed looking Kory greeted him. Blinking away confusion, Dick had to glance to his side to check that he wasn’t hallucinating before turning back to the Tamaran. Titans Tower loomed behind her and Dick realised that they were already back. Which was a shame, really, because he was not prepared to deal with the debrief awaiting them.

Before he’d even set foot in the living area, Hank was on him. “What the hell, man? I thought you were leading these ragtags? If they can’t follow orders then bench them already; you’d do it if it was one of us, what makes this lot any different?”

From his other side, Jason was adamant he had his say. “The plan was lame. And anyway what does it matter, we still won!”

“Alright, enough!”

Dick cringed at the volume of his own voice. He blinked the stars out of his vision and stalked to the center of the room, keeping his arms crossed firmly over his aching chest. “Quit acting like children, both of you. So things didn’t go to plan tonight, it happens. But we managed,” he said, looking towards Hank. He turned his attention to Jason. “But we also had a plan for a reason. Working as a team is what keeps us from getting hurt and -” 

As if to prove his point, a flare of pain shot through his torso as he spoke, stealing his breath and almost bringing him to his knees. Throwing out an arm to catch himself, Dick couldn’t suppress the groan that escaped between his gritted teeth. His hand curled tight around Hank’s forearm, who had dashed over to catch him with a hand to his shoulder. 

There was an uneasy silence for a moment as Dick sucked in a handful of pained breaths before Hank spoke, his voice quiet and unnerving. “You were hit?” 

Something in his voice made Dick look up at the taller man. His face had turned pale and concern filled his eyes. He wasn’t looking at Dick, but at his own hand which was now stained a deep red. Blood, Dick’s blood, trickled down his wrist where he held it aloft. 

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” Jason asked, rushing over. 

Dick opened his mouth, but no words came. Instead, his legs crumpled beneath him and he felt himself tumbling towards the darkness, his reply of “there wasn’t time” dying on his lips.   
~x~

The first rays of sunlight were just beginning to peek through the blinds when Dick woke, some hours later. Even through what he assumed was a haze of painkillers, he felt the dull throb of pain echoing through his limbs and pulsing in his chest. For a while, he was content to blink up at the ceiling, watching the bright flare of morning dance across it. It occurred to him, vaguely, that he was in his own bed, rather than in the medbay. Hopefully that meant he’d live. That was good to know. 

Shuffling outside the door caught his attention, then voices clearly trying to be quiet. “I was just gonna check on him before I go to bed.” That sounded like Jason’s voice. 

“Dawn and Kory said we should leave him be. He needs time to heal,” came Gar’s mumbled reply. 

There was a pause, thick with anticipation, before the door cracked open and a scruffy head of black hair popped round it. Dick swallowed twice before attempting to speak. 

“Hey, Jaybird.”

Jason’s face flushed bright red when he realised he’d been caught. “Crap, I’m sorry Dick. I didn’t mean to wake you. I’ll just go, let you sleep.”

“No, hey! Jason, it’s fine. I was already awake.” Dick was quick to reply. He could see that Jason desperately needed to talk, and even if he was laid up, he could manage that at least. With a grunt, he tried to anchor his arms under himself and sit up. The dull throb of pain became a scream as he put pressure on his shoulder. He gasped, stuck between sat up and laid down. 

Jason was at his side in an instant, gentle hands easing him upright and propping up pillows behind him. He wouldn’t look at him, Dick realised as he watched the teen work. He was avoiding looking at Dick’s face at all, but those stormy eyes kept flickering to the thick bandage now covering Dick’s shoulder and chest. “I’m sorry,” he whispered at length. 

Even if he had been mad with him before, it would have been impossible now. One look at the chastised expression on Jason’s face told Dick that he’d already had enough of a dressing down from the others, and while he was expecting another, he probably didn’t need it. 

Dick rested a hand on top of Jason’s where it was picking at the bedcovers. “It’s okay, Jason. We all make mistakes, especially out in the field.”

The stunned look on Jason’s face made Dick wish for a second that he’d had a camera ready, but it was gone before he’d even finished the thought. Jason shook his head, frowning down at his hands once again. “But I got you injured. You nearly bled out and I didn’t even realise.” Haunted eyes met Dick’s. “You could have died, and it would have been my fault.”

Ignoring the tight pain that accompanied the move, Dick reached out and caught Jason’s shoulder, anchoring him as best he could. “What happened last night was not your fault. You weren’t the one holding the gun,” he said earnestly. “But I hope you’ve learned something from it. We have plans for a reason, we work as a team and play up each other’s strengths for a reason. If you’re gonna be part of this team, I need to know I can rely on you to do that. Do you understand?”

Jason nodded mutely. Dick fought the urge to wrap his arms around him and pull him close, injuries be damned. But Jason looked a bit like a startled bird at the minute, and one wrong move would have him bolting for the door. Dick’s eyes flickered around the room before catching on the records stacked in a box in the corner. A smile spread across his face. “Hey,” he said, nudging Jason and nodding towards the box. “Do me a favour and pick something good. If I’m stuck on bedrest, at least let’s have something decent on.”


End file.
